Ionis Pharmaceuticals Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:IONS)

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 4,064 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 308% compared to the typical volume of 996 call options.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 396,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,652,700. The company has a market capitalization of $12.87 billion, a PE ratio of -47.10 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.23 and a 200 day moving average of $60.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $83.61.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 44.26% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The business had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.19.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 13,441 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.74, for a total value of $937,375.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,889 shares in the company, valued at $3,758,218.86. This trade represents a 19.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Birchler sold 12,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $897,457.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 56,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,541.98. The trade was a 17.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 263,288 shares of company stock worth $19,811,198 over the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $17,790,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 294,643 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,488,000. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $10,650,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.